Congratulations Esther! We loved the rainbow inked effect, and the trees are fabulous! Esther will
win a Guest Designer slot, a Winners Profile and of course her gorgeous project will be published in Craft Stamper Magazine.

As always, we have the remaining two slots in our Design Top Three to reveal! They are in no particular order :)

Thursday, 29 October 2015

To all those subscribers who have been trying to access the free DVD streaming as advertised in the December issue... There is a typo in the link printed in the magazine I'm afraid. The correct link is: shop.inspiredtomake.com/streaming-2
The hyphen was omitted from the link published. So sorry about that....
the password as published is correct, so once you get to the streaming
page you will be able to access the content! This might sound very
cryptic for those that haven't yet received the December issue, but we
wanted to correct the problem as soon as it was brought to our
attention.

Friday, 23 October 2015

As October has an extra week, our October TIMI Challenge ALSO has an extra week!

So, today we are sharing some special, blog only projects!

The fabulous Darcy Wilkinson designed the Sugar Skull stamp that came free with your November issue of Craft Stamper, and she shared some wonderful projects with us on page 64 of the magazine.

Darcy has created even more fabulous art....... and here it is!

Sugar Skull and Lace Choker

Darcy also shared the instuctions on how to make it:

Skull and Lace Choker

I began by adding 2 coats of white gesso to 2 small squares
of cotton fabric. once this was dry I stamped the skull onto one piece of
fabric. This was then coloured in using Faber Castell Pitt Pens. I then
stitched the 2 pieces of fabric together using my sewing machine, the now
double strength piece was trimmed close to the stitching leaving an area at the
top that was folded over a metal ring . I painted the back and edges using
Little Black Dress Fresco paint by PaperArtsy.

I took a length of white lace , long enough to go around my
neck, this was gathered and the gathers stitched in place by machine. I did the
same with a length of black cotton webbing, this was stitched on top of the
lace.

I handstitched the ring to the front of the choker .
Finally I added ribbon ties at the back.

Darcy also created some pin badges:

Sugar Skull Pin Badges

Not having a badge maker, I wondered if I could successfully
make badges, turns out they are a little fiddly but not hard. I began by buying
some large,cheap badges, they are just over 2 inches/5cm big and were only 40p
each. I removed the pin backs and then was able to remove the brightly coloured
birthday images from the fronts.

I stamped the skull onto smooth printer paper, the
paper needs to be thin. I coloured the skulls using Letraset Promarkers and
Faber Castell Pitt Pens, making each one different. I drew a circle around each
skull and filled in that area with colour. Next I placed each skull face down
onto clear,self adhesive coverfilm,(available in most stationery shops) then I
cut out the circles. I clipped around the edges, this helps the paper bend over
the front of the blank badge. I smoothed the image over the badge, no glue
needed, turning and smoothing, tucking the excess to the back, I repeated this
a few times, turning and smoothing, trying to make the edge creases as small as
possible. Once I was happy that the edges were as flat as they were going to
get I popped the back of the badge into place.

Thanks Darcy, we love the stamp, and love the projects!

You still have a few more days to enter the October TIMI Challenge, all the details can be found HERE!

Wednesday, 21 October 2015

We
are looking for submissions for our Ready, Set, Stamp feature on the
following theme for our March issue of Craft Stamper. If you've always
wanted to see YOUR card in print, now is your chance!!

Colours:burnt orange, salmon/flesh pink, mint green, pesto green

****Please do NOT create Christmas cards for this art call! ****

Deadline for submission: 17th November 2015

· Please email your submissions to cs@traplet.com

· Please put 'Ready Set Stamp' followed by the theme in the subject line

· Please note that due to the number of submissions it's not possible to
contact every entrant individually - if you have not heard from us within one
week, your submission has not been successful. Please try again with a different card!

Guidelines:

· Please make cards only for this gallery.. Please do not use stamps that are discontinued for this article. Also please only use stamps that are available to buy in the UK (the exception is stamps from advertisers e.g. Art Journey, De Stempelwinkel)..
We do not accept cards created with digital stamps ONLY for this
feature. Digital stamps MUST be used in conjunction with real stamping
to qualify.

· Cards which are selected need to be posted to the Craft Stamper
offices in the UK.

· This call IS open internationally.

· Note that we do choose artwork as it arrives, so please don't wait
until the last minute to submit if your cards are ready.

· Cards will be returned at our expense, along with a complimentary copy
of the magazine in which your card features. Note this can take approx. three
months.

· Please follow both the theme AND the colour scheme
when creating your
cards. You can add black, white and metallics to any of the schemes. The
ideas given are simply that, ideas, and do not have to be followed to
the letter!

· Text for this article is required (don't worry - it is short!) and
should be entered into the document provided – this will be sent to you if you
are selected.

Amanda won the challenge with this fabulous assemblage. We thought the textures and all the details were amazing.... We
loved it!

We asked Amanda a few questions all about stamping (well, we are Craft Stamper after all!)

Q: How long have you
been a stamper, and how did you get started?

A: I first started using stamps in my crafting
about 4 years ago now when I joined a local card making class. I knew
right away it was something I enjoyed, even more so when I started to discover
the huge variety of stamps available and the many ways in which they can be
used. The endless possibilities to what could be created using them appealed to
me very much and I soon became hooked.

Q: What are your
favourite kinds of stamps, and do you have a favourite stamp company?

A:With so many stamps available it’s hard to
single out one kind over another. I guess I have found it’s handy to have a
good all round mix of stamps in my collection. I LOVE quote and sentiment
stamps especially when they are really meaningful. I find texture, detail
and background stamps indispensable as they can totally transform a
creation. Image stamps are a real must have too, and when choosing these I
tend to go for more mature, arty, grungy, quirky images.

Q: Describe your style,
are you a messy kind of stamper or a more ‘clean and simple’ kind of person?

A: I’m not sure I really have a style as such as
I think in itself that can be limiting to the creative process, but
I guess on the whole my work does lean more to the messy , grungy side than the
clean and simple . Every now and again though I like to change it up and
create more clean and simply. My more recent work has seen me use much more colour
than I ever used to (even Pink – I don’t do Pink the names enough lol) and it
really has been a refreshing change.

Q:What kind of projects do you like creating the most?

A: I just love the whole creative process so enjoy
making almost anything from cards and tags, to mixed media and altered art
projects to art journaling (which I am just beginning to dabble with). As long
as there are inks, paints, stamps, texture and techniques involved I’m
happy.

Q: Apart from stamps,
what is the one product you wouldn’t be without when you craft?

A: Now that is a toughie as there are a few
products I use pretty much all the time regardless of what I am making .
I have a real soft spot for Distress inks. They are such a versatile product-
I use them to stamp, to emboss and to blend, and I love how you can create some fabulous
effects when you mix them with water. I think I would
have to also sneak in glossy accents and / or cosmic shimmer too. Again I love
their versatility, and when used as adhesives they definitely do the job.

We
also asked Amanda to show us a few of her favourite stamped creations,
and share why she likes them so much. Here are the gorgeous projects she has
chosen:

"This piece marks a very proud achievement
for me in the crafting world -my first ever Guest Design Spot so naturally it
means a lot and I think it has to be one of my favourite pieces I’ve made
to date . I feel it’s a good example of the kind of Art I love to create"- Amanda

"I love using the classic monochrome colours of
black, white and grey in my art – they are so effective I love the
simplicity of this tag. It’s also a good example of the delicate tonal colours
that can be achieved when using Distress Inks to watercolour" - Amanda

"This little 3d bird home turned out just how I
had hoped when I designed and created it . Mr Crazy Bird always makes me
smile, so seeing him happy in his new home made me happy"- Amanda

Congratulations on being our September Design Winner Amanda , and it was lovely to learn a little more about you!

Do YOU fancy having a winners profile all about you on the CS blog?

The
profile is part of the prize package for each Design Winner of our
challenges. All you need to do is enter a creation into the challenge,
then if you are voted Design Winner everyone will be reading all about
you before you know it!

Our current challenge 'Take A Technique: Ink Stitch Paint Collage Print Paper"" is still open for a couple of weeks! All the details can be found HERE.

October has an extra week in it, so see you back here next Friday for a special extra blog project, and on Friday October 30th for the announcement of the challenge Winners!

The
Design Winner, voted for by our DT, will have their project
published in a 2 page spread in Craft Stamper Magazine, will have a guest DT slot for an upcoming challenge, and ALSO
gets their very own winners profile here on the blog....so why
not get your stamps out and share your creation?

More eye candy, and the post to link your creations up to can be found HERE....Have fun!

Tuesday, 6 October 2015

We’ve discovered a brand new paper arts book we thought you’d love and we want to tell you all about it! Created by the UK’s leading Kirigami artist, Paper Dandy aka Marc Hagan-Guirey, Horrorgami shows you how to create intricate pop-ups inspired by classic horror scenes.

The Catacombs, intermediate difficulty.

‘Kirigami’ is the Japanese art of cutting and folding a single sheet of paper to create complex art work. Marc Hagan-Guirey used the technique to amazing effect to produce a stunning solo exhibition, entitled ‘Horrorgami’, which showcased his fascination with the macabre. The exhibition consisted of a series of 13 paper cut works, each representing a different recognisable scene from a cult horror film. The delicate white pieces were displayed in brightly coloured light boxes, which when viewed at night, illuminated the scenes in a sinister and alluring way.

According to the host gallery, Gallery One and a Half, “Hagan-Guirey juxtaposes the experience of viewing the work with the experience of watching horror films. Under the cloak of darkness, a horror film is at its most effective and potent but this power dissipates when viewed in the safety and familiarity of daylight.”

As a follow up to his thought-provoking exhibition, Hagan-Guirey then went on to produce this practical craft book to make his designs more accessible to the general public.

Dr Frankenstein’s Watchtower, intermediate difficulty.

This hauntingly beautiful book is great for Halloween, and with easy to follow step-by-step instructions and pull out templates, it could become the perfect activity for a Halloween party, all you need is your trusty scalpel!

Friday, 2 October 2015

As
you might remember, this year our challenge is alternating between
'Take A Stamp', and 'Take A Technique'....and this month our challenge
is 'Take A Technique'!As part of the Craft Stamper revamp, we changed the cover... and we now have a strapline running across the top that reads: Ink Stitch Paint Collage Print Paper. For this challenge, we would like you to include something from that list in your creations, along with a bit of stamping too!So... use a bit of ink, or paint. Add some stitching or some collaging. Print with junk, or use patterned paper... whatever you fancy! So that means..

October Challenge:

'Take A Technique' Use one or more of the following processes in your art: Ink Stitch Paint Collage Print Paper(and include stamping somewhere!)

Show
us how unique you can be, create anything your imagination cares to dream up! Share your
cards, journal pages, layouts, 3D assemblage or whatever else takes your
fancy. Your project can be any theme, any colour you want... as long as
you've stamped somewhere, and used one or more of the processes listed above, then you're good to go!

We
have two prizes on offer this month, the first is our sponsor
prize. This winner will be chosen randomly from all of the entries in the
challenge! The sponsor for October is

Calico Craft Parts create and stock an incredible array of MDF and greyboard laser cut shapes, soooo
many to choose from, and such wonderful quality. From cogs and spiderwebs through to shadow boxes and ATB (Artist Trading Block) kits, there really is something for everyone!

Our
second winner is our Design Winner. This winner is chosen by our DT,
who all vote for their favourite design from all of the entries. This
winner will have their winning project published in Craft Stamper
Magazine, (with a 2 page spread of their very own!), they will have a GDT slot for an upcoming challenge, and will
also feature in their very own Winners Profile blog post!

I
hope the prizes have given you all an incentive to win...... and how
about some eye candy from the DT to give you some beautifully stamped inspiration! As there are ATB cube kits in the prize, the DT thought they would share some ATB projects with everyone! The cubes used are the exact ones featured in the prize bundle.*** Remember though, you can enter ANY KIND of project for this challenge! ***

I have to say...there are some STUNNERS there, that's what I call inspiration!Remember, you DON'T have to create an ATB (Artist Trading Block) for the challenge, you can create whatever you like. We thought we would just give you an idea of what you could make with part of the prize!

Want to enter?!

Then simply link up using the
Linky Tool below! PLEASE
PLEASE PLEASE have a read of our challenge rules before you link up.
Any entry that does not comply with all the rules will not be considered
for either of the two prizes on offer. All rules can be found by
clicking the link at the top of the page, under the banner!